Learn Sign Language Online

What is ASL? Why learn it?

About 70 million deaf people use sign language as their first language. For students planning careers in education, healthcare, and many other fields, sign language can be an asset.

Studying American Sign Language at UA

Our ASL courses are generally designed around two purposes:

- General or educational purposes

- Medical purposes

With different purposes, the contents of the courses are different. For general or educational purposes, the courses are like other foreign language courses, focusing on communication and information exchange in an everyday setting. As for medical purposes, the focus of the course is on how to help patients, with a lot of specific vocabulary and settings. Students with a nursing major or who are following a prehealth track might find ASL to be beneficial for their future careers. We can also have a general purpose course with some lessons addressing the medical purposes.

Meet the Instructor

My name is Tabitha Venable, I grew up in Hope Hull, Alabama. When I was 4 years old, I lost my hearing from Spinal Meningitis. After I lost my hearing, my mother took me to Sign Language classes. Ever since I was 4 years old, I have been using Sign Language. I have been teaching ASL since 2009. Graduated from Gallaudet University with Bachelor in Deaf Studies and Masters in American Sign Language Education. I enjoy teaching American Sign Language and Deaf Culture, work with parents who have the deaf child, language deprived deaf children and rescue Deaf dogs.